naked

My 21-month-old is driving me crazy. She has been taking off her clothes, even her diaper, everywhere we go. Church, home, Grandma's... And she's very quick and sneaky about it.

A major problem is that if she does get that diaper off, she will pee where she's at.

I've tried disciplining her as I would for anything else by saying "no" and explaining that she can't eat, go outside, whatever the activity may be unless she has clothes on. But it doesn't seem to be working. At night, we have gone to putting on onesies so that her diaper will still be on when she gets up in the morning.

Does anyone have advice for this? I figure if we can make it through the phase, however long it lasts, it'll be fine. But, I'm tired of cleaning the carpet (after a diaperless accident).

My daughter LOVES LOVES LOVES to be naked. So..I tell her that when we are at home, she can go naked. She is 25 mo and has been taking her clothes off for some time. It is a skills thing too. My dd now likes to try to dress herself and will drag clothes out of the dirty laundry.

This is what I tell her (as I do for other behaviors I find unappropriate.) I say that she can be naked here (at home) but when we are shopping she has to wear clothes. (i.e. if she were yelling in side, I'd ask her to use her in-door voice and if the weather permits and my 12week old permits, we then can go outside where I let her yell in an "outside voice".) So, by letting her know where it is appropriate to be clothed and where it is not is a sort of compermise (sp?) but still allows her to learn limits and be naked a good deal of the time.

Regarding her diaper situation. Are you using disposable diapers? And, can she undo snaps really well? If not here are two suggestions for naps and night-time. If you are using disposables, put the diaper on backwards so the tabs are on her back/bum area. It is a lot harder for them to undo this way.

If you are using disposables and the above suggestion doesn't work, you can try putting a cloth diaper like this one: http://www.mother-ease.com/database/...Cat=3&SecCat=2
over the disposable and/or put in on over the disposable backwards too. I use cloth diapers and they were a lot harder for my daughter get at first, but now she can take those off too if she wants to. I just tell her that she can be "naked baby" (which is what we call it) but her diaper has to stay on.

Not sure if these suggestions will work for you, but it might be a place to start!

When my son was little he did the same thing. I think kids have some innate desire to be naked at that age. I took that as a sign to begin potty training. I set the potty chair in the livingroom where he spent most of his time. I also had a little toilet seat that sat on top of the big one with a stool for the upstairs bathroom. I was a homebody so I didn't have many problem with him dropping his drawers in public too often. Eventually, when it got cold, he took his clothes off less.

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awww, gotta love nekkid babies! its funny.. most other countries its normal for babies to run naked..

my 11 year old used to do just what you describe your child as doing.. she was naked all the time! we didn't allow it in "public" places, but if we were home, or just at a relatives house, we just let her be. the peeing issue wasnt ever a problem for us.. so good luck with that part.. but honestly.. if we didn't have to wear clothes, we probably wouldn't either.. they are so confining! hahaha..

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I tried putting the diaper on her backwards and, so far, it's working. When my husband forgets and puts it on the right way, it's not long before she has it off.

I've relaxed more with her taking her clothes off, although we had a problem with it in church this weekend. I've gone back down to 18-month size shirts (from 24-month size) to get a little tighter fit and that seems to work, but I can't do the same with pants because they're just too small.

But, with all your ideas and support, this is getting to be less of a frustration. Thank you!!!

When my son was little he did the same thing. I think kids have some innate desire to be naked at that age. I took that as a sign to begin potty training. I set the potty chair in the livingroom where he spent most of his time. I also had a little toilet seat that sat on top of the big one with a stool for the upstairs bathroom. I was a homebody so I didn't have many problem with him dropping his drawers in public too often. Eventually, when it got cold, he took his clothes off less.

This is my little 18 month old right now..We have a couple of the little potties from IKEA that look like the Bjorn ones scattered about and he will just drop and go. He hardly ever poops in a dipe anymore. since it is between 75-90 degrees here right now it's no problem.

Hey mama, I was born and raised in Mechanicsburg PA, As a matter of fact I just got back on the yesterday from a 3 week trip there to my family. Have you always lived there?

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I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this or not... but could your daughter be showing signs of wanting to potty train "early?" I say "early" because I know that people potty train children at all different times. We have been practicing Elimination Communication with the help of The Diaper Free Baby Book and our Baby Bjorn potties since our son was about 10-12 months old. It made it better/easier when we switched him from disposables to cloth diapers (Kushies are great). BUT... the best part of potty training him is actually when I let him run around naked (or just with a shirt on) with his potty nearby because he most of the time will sit on the potty when he needs to go or if I can tell he's about to go by if he starts to be really quiet or still from what he was doing. It was a pain at first, and we still do have accidents, but I just find it less stressful to have him stay on a tiled area more often than a carpeted area unless I'm right next to him. When he is in a cloth diaper though, he will take it off himself, and I personally think that it's great because he's communicating with me that he is in fact wet or that he needs to go potty. I know that there may be public places that may make being naked a little odd, but at least there is communication going on. I do remember in The Baby Book on the chapter about Potty Training that Dr. Sears did caution against using negativity towards accidents, etc. It's a short chapter, but it might help to read it if you get a chance. It really helped me for a refresher even though we've been practicing EC for the past 7-9 months. Hope that helps!

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This is a great idea to consider and one that didn't even cross my mind -- but she is my oldest so I have yet to go through potty training. I thought, for some reason, that kids had to be 2 1/2 or so before they got interested in potty training, but I don't remember where I got that number at, now that I think about it.

I will definitely look into this more. And I should head to town for potty chair.

I thought, for some reason, that kids had to be 2 1/2 or so before they got interested in potty training

my ds1 potty -trained at 2 (pooping anyway), ds2 turned 2 today and has been "talking" about using the potty, and my mom swears i was potty trained at 9 mos, so i don't think there is any magic age to be before PT.

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I second what everyone has said about the potty training. She might be ready - this could definitely be her sign for it.

My DD is very close to being completely trained at age 2. I also wasn't ready for it (hadn't even thought about it), but she definitely told me it was time to train by her actions.

We do LOTS of naked time at home, out in the yard, at Grandma's house, etc. She loves being naked and it also makes her ALOT more aware of when she needs to go potty. She rarely has accidents at home anymore. She also LOVES to potty outside...luckily, we live in Texas and out in the country, so this isn't a problem. If she is wearing panties, she "thinks" it is a diaper and will pee through (sometimes). If she is naked, she knows right away to head for the potty or find a bush (if we are outside).

So far we don't have the issue of her trying to take off her clothes in a public place (yet).